LEGISLATIVE JOINT AUDITING - COUNTIES AND MUNICIPALITIES

The Legislative Joint Auditing-Counties and Municipalities committee convened with an opening prayer by the chair, thanking God for the opportunity to serve the state and asking for guidance in their deliberations. The minutes from September were approved after a motion was made and seconded. The vote resulted in approval of the minutes without opposition. Miscalculate provided updates on private reports regarding water and sewer delinquencies as of December 31, 2023, noting no change from the prior year with three entities still not submitting their reports. For the year ending December 2024, there were initially 20 missing reports but this number was reduced to 19 due to recent submissions. The committee accepted these updates without objection. Next, an update on private delinquent reports for the city of Boxite was presented and also accepted without objection. Item E discussed non-compliance with misuse of funds at the city of Jericho. The town had not transferred $57,000 from the general fund to the street fund as required by Arkansas Code. Although they were behind on payments in 2024, recent payments brought them up-to-date. Mayor Aida Shempert and Recorder Treasurer Elaine DePri could not attend due to personal reasons. The committee deferred this report with no objections. Charlie Camp presented a special report for six regional Solid Waste Management Districts, highlighting findings related to payroll items, credit card disbursements without proper documentation, contracts not properly approved by the board, car allowances, and other financial irregularities in Kalasky County District. The district had also expended $312,977 on advertising which was deemed excessive. Representative Dolby asked if the entire report or just specific findings were referred to the prosecuting attorney and the attorney general. Staff confirmed that the whole report is sent when one or two findings are referred. There was no update on responses from those entities yet. A motion was made and seconded to file this report, but the transcript ends before a vote could be recorded.